How to Cook Delicious Meals With Little or No Salt

By Beverly Chapman

Jan 15, 2016

1667 Views

If you or your doctor has decided that you need to reduce or completely eliminate your salt intake, you may be wondering how to cook enticing, flavorful meals. The following tips should help to make your mealtime enjoyable despite the absence of the salt shaker.

Talk to your doctor about quitting salt

There are a stunning variety of salts available out there, from regular "table salt" to sea salt, salt crystals, and even gourmet salts. However, it's all still salt. Salt intake has been shown to increase blood pressure, which in turn can cause even more serious and troubling medical maladies such as heart problems, stroke, and hypertension in other organs of your body such as the kidneys and lungs. In short, the less salt you consume, the better it is for your body and overall health, although any decision to reduce or completely eliminate salt from your diet should be discussed first with your physician.

Flavoring meals without salt

You may be wondering what your options are when it comes to seasoning your food. Surprisingly enough, pepper, instead of salt, is considered the "master spice." There are also different forms of pepper available--cayenne, peppercorns, cracked pepper, white pepper, and other gourmet varieties that are sure to spice up your food. Other options include fresh herbs such as mint, basil, and dill. Lemon, lemon grass, lemon pepper, and even garlic pepper are even more options you may consider when trying to decide how to best add flavor to a certain dish. Garlic powder, onion powder, rosemary, thyme, Italian seasonings, and combined seasonings, all of which are available in your local supermarket, can also come in handy when you're on a low or no-salt diet.

Is salt a nutritional necessity?

There's a reason why the daily recommended serving of sodium (salt) listed on all nutrition labels is 2400 mg per a 2000 calorie diet. A teaspoon of salt contains almost the entire amount listed on those nutrition labels. The question that begs to be asked, though, is this: Is salt a nutritional necessity? The answer to that is yes. Salt contributes to such things as keeping a certain, healthful amount of water in your body, as well as contributing to muscle contractions and keeping your gut healthy. Try a small reduction in your salt intake and see how you adjust to that. Don't try to completely eliminate salt unless it's under your doctor's advice. If you're wondering how long it will take your body to adjust to a reduced or no-salt diet, most people adjust within 2-4 months.